Winged Chaos
by BlueWings900
Summary: Before the Armageddon, there were four enhanced humans, three were sent to Mars and one remained on Earth. A thousand years later, the three have returned from Mars and Abel finally has a chance to live with others like him. However when a war breaks out, who will he side with? The terrans or methuselah?
1. Prologue: Free at Last

I own nothing

* * *

 **Prologue:**

 **(2118 AD: UN)**

Abel rested his head on his knees as he waited for the next batch of guards to take him from his room. A shiver raced through his body and his hands shook, but whether it was from the cold, weakness or pain, Abel wouldn't give it too much thought. He was used to living in pain.

Everyday some UN bastard would do a number of tests on him. And everyday, Abel would come back to his room hungry, cold, and hurting. He was their favorite lab rat after all. That title was his, and his alone.

Abel felt a smile growing on his face so he ducked his head. There was a camera set in the corner of his room, and he didn't need the UN knowing he was happy. But still! The smile grew wider. It was 2118.

It was 2118, launch day, and that meant the test tube babies would be heading for Mars. They all dreamed of it, it was their purpose, the reason they were created to begin with. To lead the new colony at Mars.

But Abel wouldn't be going. _You can't be trusted with the lives of the colony_ , is what the General said before he dragged Abel off, kicking and screaming to the next lab.

Abel was a failed creation. He never listened to what the UN general said. The UN said his purpose was to be the perfect little soldier. Hah! As if! Abel wasn't some droid, he was a person too! He had his own dreams and wishes, and the one thing he wanted the most, over everything else, was for his family to be safe.

It was hard at first. After all, how do you keep your family safe when they literally live with the enemy? But, he made it work. Abel found that if he was destructive enough, the UN would give him the most attention. The most negative attention.

Wincing, Abel lifted his head from it's bowed position to lean against the wall. His blue eyes flittered to the camera and glared. He hated the UN.

Still nothing could ruin this day! His family was free at last! Abel only wished that he could have seen the ship launch. Maybe even say good bye. His eyes burned, and Abel quickly rubbed it before tears could appear.

Just then the door to his small room slid open and Abel glared at it over his knees. If it was a damn scientist-

Seth, his darling sister, appeared within the door frame and skipped into his room followed by Lilith and Cain.

"Abel!" Seth said happily, but her voice was off. "You're face is going to get stuck if you keep scowling like that," she chided as she jumped onto his bed and latched onto his arm.

"Seth," Abel sighed, "you guys shouldn't be in here." He tried to keep his voice neutral even as happiness overwhelmed him, and forced himself not to flinch as pain zapped up his arm from her touch.

Cain rolled his eyes, "don't be silly, brother." His twin was smiling but had a look of irritation on his face as he looked at Abel. It wasn't meant for him though, that look was toward the UN.

"I'm sure Cain and I could ask-"

"No!" Abel shouted, making to leap off his bed and stand but pain in his abdomen had him wincing instead.

"You're hurt," Cain growled but his expression softened. "Lilith's right…"

"You can't," Abel grit his teeth, pushing the pain from the latest test away. "If you do, the general might not let any of you go. It's better this way." As he said this, he could feel Seth tighten her hold on his arm. "You guys should go."

He missed them. Wanted to savor this moment, but, his eyes darted to the camera, it wasn't safe. After all of his hard work, getting the UN to do their tests on him instead, it'd be plain stupid if their chances of freedom got taken away just because Abel wanted to be selfish and say good bye.

"We have time before launch," Lilith stated.

"If the general catches you-"

"Hush, he can't change the plans so suddenly," Lilith said, voice turning soft and caring. "Let me tend to your wounds."

"No," Abel grumbled and reached up to pull his coat closed.

He didn't want them to see the bandages. It didn't seem like the three of them caught onto that fact though. Seth winced and relaxed her grip on Abel's arm, Cain took on an uncharacteristic scowl, and Lilith… Lilith slapped him.

"Ow! What the hell was that for!" Abel growled.

"You!" Lilith shouted and tears streamed down her face. "You're such an idiot," she cried and raced out of the room.

'What? Lilith, I.." Abel groaned, watching her form disappear around a corner. Forcing himself to stand Abel made for the door but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Abel shot a questioning look at Cain. Great, today was the last day he'd see the three of them in three years, if even that, and he'd just gone and ruined it.

Cain pointed to the band around his wrist. "Can't leave the room remember?"

Oh yeah, he'd forgotten about that. Abel almost grinned, the band on his wrist was one of the 'gifts' he got after killing a number of UN scientists when they made to put his family through experiments. It was made to keep track of Abel and keep him in check so he didn't go on another rampage. Not that it mattered. If his family was in trouble, he'd destroy whoever hurt them. A little band couldn't stop him.

Looking away from the band, Abel moved back to his bed. "I'm such an idiot. What did I do this time?" he groaned, referring to making Lilith upset.

Seth chuckled, "being you. The best brother ever!" she ended in a cheer, her bright green eyes looked up to Abel with hope as she smiled at him. She paused a second then sniffed, "you're not going to die are you?" Her voice was much softer and eyes turned watery.

"No! Of course not!" Abel said, but it felt like a lie. He ruffled Seth's hair. "I'll see all three of you when you return in three years. I'll be the first to great you when you leave the space ship."

"Promise?"

Abel gulped, pausing for a second then nodded. "Promise."

Clearly, Seth noticed the pause because she glared at him. Sticking out her pinky finger she said, "pinky promise?"

"You have to promise not to do anything stupid too," Cain added, before Abel could respond. "And, you have to take care of yourself."

"Yeah, pinky promise." Abel locked pinkies with Seth and rolled his eyes at Cain. It was a lie, and he knew it.

In the UN's eyes he was a failure. He wasn't the obedient little creation they wanted him to be. They'd up the number of tests he'd have to go through and Abel wasn't sure how much more he could take. They'd either have to lay off for a bit, so Abel could heal… or they'd terminate him. Oh, who was he kidding. The UN wouldn't just let him heal, but they wouldn't straight up kill him either. If anything, Abel would just die during one of their tests. Then his body would be examined and -

Abel shivered, best not to think of that. What happens to him from here, didn't matter. All that mattered was Seth, Cain, and Lilith.

"Ok, I'm going to find Lilith and head to the ship! I'll miss you," Seth gave Abel a quick hug and left the room. Now it was just Cain and Abel left.

Cain was perfect in every way that Abel wasn't. He was exactly what the UN wanted. But Abel knew better. Behind that smile, his twin hated the UN just as much as he did.

Cain turned to leave. "I should go too," he said, voice flat.

"Wait!" Abel called and Cain stopped but didn't turn. "Take care of them."

"I will."

"Nightlord!" A guard appeared in the doorway. "You shouldn't be here."

"I was just leaving," Cain said. Even as his shoulders shook with rage, his voice was unnatural calm as he smiled at the man. "Though if I may, where are you taking Abel?"

"He has another lab today." The guard shifted uneasily and looked over Cain's shoulder to glance at Abel. The guard flinched when he met Abel's glare and Abel couldn't help but send the man an evil grin. Hey, gotta live up to his reputation as the UN's menace!

Abel could just make out Cain lipping, 'bastard,' before he nodded and left the room.

"You're expected in room- Gah!"

Abel stomped on the man's foot and rammed his head at the guards nose. "Tell whoever has me today that I'm not in the mood," Abel snarled. "If I'm to have a test today, I'll kill the next person who enters." Abel placed his hand on the panel on the wall and the door slid shut. Sometimes, Abel wished doors were still on hinges, that way he could slam it in people's faces.

Letting out a shaky breath, Abel collapsed onto his bed.

He wasn't sure how long it had been, when his door next slide open. This time, two guards entered his room, one with a taser and the other held cuffs. Abel eyed the items they held in slight irritation.

"I'm guessing, you guys aren't here to drop off food," Abel grumbled. "I thought I told the other lackey I'm not in the mood for tests."

The guards shared a glance, looking at each other in disbelief. "It's been two days, Nightlord," the taser guard said.

Ah, no wonder he was so hungry. "Right," Abel rolled his eyes and swung his legs over his bed. "Well, lets get this over with." He lifted his arms to be cuffed.

The men fidgeted, both sharing uneasy glances. Abel didn't blame them. In his thirty years of living, Abel had killed a number of guards, and put even more in hospital beds for the rest of their lives. It must have been shocking for the UN's lab rat to suddenly be so complacent.

"Well?" Abel huffed. "Hurry it up!" He motioned to his arms and glared at the guard with cuffs when they didn't move.

"R-right!"

Cuffs dude, reached over and clumsily locked the cuffs around Abel's arms. It was amusing watching the man flinch whenever Abel so much as breathed.

"Let's go," Taser dude said once his partner had secured the cuffs.

Abel stood, ignoring the weird looks the guards kept shooting at him, and the phantom pain that raced through his legs at each step. He didn't care. Nothing mattered anymore. All that ever mattered was his family, and they were safe, so he didn't care. The UN could do whatever they wanted to him.

Before Abel knew it he was strapped down to a metal table. The room he was in, was the exact copy of the other three rooms on this side of the base. But this room was Abel's, and out of the four labs, it was the most used. The other labs were meant for his family, but they weren't here now and hopefully they wouldn't be forced into another room like this again.

Unlike the other labs, this one hadn't gathered dust. And if you looked at the corners of the room, along the edges where the wall met ground, you'd be able to see a bit of brown. The roof was also splattered with that brown color. Blood.

Abel drew his attention back to the scientist in the room. He found he wasn't scared as he watched the woman fill a syringe with clear liquid. He barely felt the prick of the needle on his arm. It barely even registered when his body felt like it was on fire on the inside, and he screamed his throat out, raw.

Nothing mattered anymore! All that ever mattered was Seth, his sweet, innocent sister. Cain, his twin who kept him sane. And Lilith with her motherly love. And they were free. That's all Abel wanted.

For a year that was his life. From day to day, the guards would fetch him from his room. Somedays he'd run through an obstacle course until his muscles cramped, other days he was strapped to a metal table and injected with who knows what. He never protested, never started a fight like he would have done before.

But one day it was different. There was a break in the routine.

As usual the guards cuffed and escorted him to the lab. But this time, there was no scientist in the lab. Instead it was the General.

Abel felt his blood boil at the sight of the man. For the first time in what felt like ages, Abel struggled against his binds. All he wanted was to crush this man. The stalky man barely stood to Abel's chest and always caused pain and suffering for his family. The General drew a hand through his hair as he gave Abel a crooked smile.

Abel growled, pulling against the straps restraining him.

"I'm going to kill you!" Abel snarled as he felt a spark of his old temper return.

"Ah, and here I thought, you'd changed," the General sneered. "Looks, like I'll have to teach you a lesson!"

He struck Abel in the gut, and Abel gasped as air escaped him.

"Bastard!" Abel spat. The spit landed right on the General's forehead and Abel allowed himself a bloody smile. "Careful, your head might explode," Abel said. Taking in how the General's features wrinkled until it looked like he was imitating a pug and his face turned red, nearly purple. The General snarled, landing a punch to Abel's temple then stomach. "Ugly bastard! Can't fight unless I'm tied down!"

Damn it! What Abel wouldn't give to kill this man.

"That's it!" The General walked to the metal card. "I've had enough of you Nightlord," he said as he picked up a surgical tool then placed it down and picked up a scalpel. "I thought, maybe we could send you to Mars." He continued, turning the blade over then placed it down and grabbed another.

"Lies!" Abel snarled, throwing himself at the man through the restraints, but they held strong.

"Perhaps," The General grinned as he whipped around and through the scalpel at Abel. It sank into the flesh of his abdomen and Abel screamed. "If you must know, I finally got permission to end your miserable life!"

The general walked back to Abel, and ripped the blade out of him only to plunge it into his chest.

"Go to hell," Abel gasped as he sagged against his restraints. _Sorry Seth._

"The only one going to hell is you!"

Before the General could land the killing blow, the base shook. The man turned away and Abel forced himself to look up. The lights overhead flickered as the alarms went off. Even though the walls of the room was sound proof, Abel could clearly hear the gurgled scream of UN personnel.

Abel warily looked around the room. his eyes locked onto the tendril of green smoke seeping through the edges of the door. Some type of gas? Who was stupid enough to directly attack the central UN base? Abel let out a gurgling laugh. Who ever it was, he owed his thanks.

The gas crept along the floor and was soon licking at the General's feet. The man screamed like a girl and ran to the opposite side of the room.

"What? scared of a little smoke?" Abel coughed. He braced himself, as the cloud filled the entire room. He fully expected death when he took a breath of the tainted air, but it didn't come. He felt no pain, as the gas lapped at his skin and floated over to the General.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on who's side you're on, the General wasn't as immune to the gas as Abel was. The General's scream followed those of the people in the hall, and the man clawed at his neck and eyes, drawing ugly lines over his face.

Abel was almost forced to look away at how gruesome it looked, but he took sick fascination as the man slumped against the wall and his breathing stilled.

The General was dead!

His family was safe!

It was the best year ever.

Abel worked to free himself of the restraints. It took a while, but once he finally had one hand free, the rest was easy. Shooting one last look at the dead General, Abel left the room. He expected armed men to great him with restraints, but instead the entire base was void of life. The bodies of so many of the UN lay around the halls.

Hah… Abel let a flicker of hope. Maybe, just maybe, he was finally free of the UN.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1:**

 **(March 3, 3060 AD: Vatican)**

"How old did you say you were?" this was Leon. The roguish Spaniard was currently laying on his stomach as he looked through the scope of his rifle.

Abel responded with his default answer, "thirty." Rifle set, he took his position on the other side of the roof. While Leon would take down some of the clergy men, Abel would be acting as a scout ensuring that no one spotted them.

"Thirty?" Leon barked. "You told me that five years ago!"

"Did I? I'm thirty five then." Time sure did pass quickly when you were an immortal. Or close to it at least. Abel really hoped he wasn't immortal.

Abel heard the click of a trigger and the soft pop of the rifle. The colored glass of the church shattered and people screamed. A few more shots went off, and one by one Leon felled at least five clergy men.

"You still look thirty to me," Leon stated. By the sound of ruffling leather, Abel could tell the man was now sitting up and looking toward him.

"Oh?" Abel turned, no longer looking toward the now hectic street but to his padre of five years. He pushed up his shades, trying to hide the turmoil he felt. Now would be the time of truth. Would Leon hate him for what he was? Or would he be ok with it?

From Abel's experience no one was ever ok with an immortal. No matter what they said at the beginning, they would soon become jealous and greed would make them do crazy things. The thought of the same immortality that Abel possessed, could cause even the greatest men to fall.

Abel raised a brow, waiting for an answer. He didn't get one though, and soon found his gaze drifting toward the church. The lenses which covered his eyes seemed to hold no boundary between him and the cold steel eyes he locked with. Shit!

Abel ducked down, lunging at Leon as he did so and forcing the other man down with him. Away from the woman's view. "What the hell Four-eyes!" Leon growled.

"Someone saw us!" Abel hissed, he flipped his hood back on. "I think it was Caterina Sforza."

"What! You mean the lady Cardinal?"

Abel hummed, "we'll rendezvous at the hotel. Take the side alleys. Circle it a few times, don't-"

"Don't go straight to the hotel," Leon huffed. "Yeah, yeah. I know already, jeez." He drew a hand through his black mane like hair.

Abel turned back to his rifle, quickly trying to take it apart but froze. Not too far away, the clanking sound of armor could be heard along with the thump-thump-thump, of heavy foot steps.

"We have to go!" Abel hissed. He paused, eyes widening behind his shades. "Now!"

"Just gimme a sec," Leon growled back.

"Seize at once. For crimes against the Vatican you are now under arrest," came a monotone voice.

Abel clucked his tongue as he eyed what must have been a machine, or at least a cyborg if the glowing red eyes was anything to go by. The cyborg had auburn hair and looked no older than twenty, much to young for the priest robes he wore or to be holding twin pistols aimed at Abel and Leon. Then again in these times it was common for the young to lead. Even the current pope was only 16 years old.

Spinning on his heals, Abel ditched his rifle and leapt from the roof. They were about six stories up, but Abel didn't care about this and landed with cat like grace at reaching the ground.

Gunshots could be heard and then swearing, and finally Leon jumped right after him. Abel sighed as the man fell through a vendor's tent and continued to tumble into a roll. Elegance aside, did Leon really have to bring his rifle along? It would only slow him down, especially in that bulky case it was in. Plus… Abel found himself taking in the small spot of red on the ground…

"You got shot."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Four-eyes!" Leon growled, now standing. "Shit!" A rain of bullets flew at them from over head.

"Run!" Abel ordered. He dashed forward, grabbing Leon by the wrist, and headed into the same building they'd been on only minutes before. "I'll take the back exit. Wait a minute, then take the left. I'll see you back at the hotel… And give me that," Abel yanked away the large rifle case. It would slow him down some, but with Leon already injured it was better for Abel to carry it.

Once at the exit, Abel pierced the air with a whistle. He didn't even have to wait long for the cyborg to look over the edge of the roof and start firing at Abel. The silver head danced back, smirking as none of the bullets came even close to hitting him. To him this was child's play.

"Aim calibrated," the cyborg priest stated. "I will not miss the next shot."

Abel flicked him the middle finger. Grin plastered on his face, he raced toward a shadowed alley way. It gave him enough cover from the priest's fire, but still allowed him a view. He needed to give Leon a bit of a head start and act as a distraction for at least another five minutes. Abel blinked when instead of shooting the robot jumped to the ground and landed with a heavy thud. Abel couldn't help but wince at the spider web like crack the cyborg made on the ground.

-Bang-

That was close. A few strands of silver hair floated to the ground. Abel winced, it took him a second to realize the small sting in his cheek.

"Aim calibrated," the cyborg stated again.

Was this man serious!? He was aiming for a death blow! No one could survive a shot to the head. Not even an enhanced human like Abel. Sure he may have lived this long, and had experienced gun wounds multiple times as a child, but he'd never been shot in the head before! And darn it, Abel was not crazy enough to test out if he could survive such an injury or not. He was not suicidal, thank you very much.

Abel threw a rock into the air and the killing robot shot at it, once, twice, no three times. A pistol clicked. Now! Abel dashed from his hiding spot and whipped around a corner. Hahah! He could keep this up for ages!

From the sound of it, the cyborg had finally reloaded his guns. Abel peaked around the corner, expecting the priest to still be at the entrance of the alley.

His smile dropped as his face met the barrel of a pistol.

Oh hell no! Abel flipped back just as a shot was fired. Thankfully a hand kept his hood in place. Another shot just barely missed and Abel found himself having to block a heavy arm that was aimed at his face. For such a heavy machine, this guy was fast!

Faster than any human could hope to achieve, Abel bolted down a street. Not fast enough though. Abel grunted as he found the killing doll keeping up with him. A gun aimed at his face. Abel skid, kicking up dirt as he turned. A knee found itself in his stomach, Abel spun and returned a punch. A bullet lodged itself into Abel's arm, forcing him to release the rifle case.

"Damn it," Abel cursed. He just managed to duck another bullet as he grabbed the case with his good arm and brought it up to hit the robot with. Pushing forward, and using the case to block the cyborg's view, Abel managed to land in a few good hits. The fact the priest was now wasting bullets also helped.

A click sounded.

Empty!

Abel smirked, leaping away from the machine as it reloaded. This time he knew better than to wait for it to catch up.

Abel's put pressure to his wound as he took off, heading for the hotel he and Leon shared, but taking a path that didn't lead straight to it. He glanced back, spotting the machine not too far behind him.

Now to loose his tail. Abel sped up, heading straight for the wall of a building. He didn't even slow down as he forced himself to run up the wall, then jump for a window ledge and vault himself onto the roof. He didn't stop though, and continued to run, jumping from roof to roof.

When he couldn't hear the clicking of armor, nor the heavy foot steps the machine seemed to take Abel came to a stop, good hand on his knees and panting. Looking around, then below the building he was currently on, Abel finally concluded that he was in the clear and easily jumped down to the balcony of his hotel room.

Leon should be here by now. Abel slid the glass door open and stepped into the large room. The silver head scowled. He'd distracted that machine for how long, and Leon hadn't made it back yet!?

xxXxx

(The next day- March 4, 3060 AD: Vatican)

Caterina Sforza, Duchess of Milan and the first lady Cardinal, sat behind her podium, waiting for her agent, Tres, to return with their suspect. Sighing, she flipped through an old newspaper. The particular story she wanted to read, told of an attack which happened five years ago.

 _ **Criminals Killed in Krakov**_

 _ **April 24, 3055**_

 _ **By James Barrie**_

 _The bodies of several known criminals were found yesterday in Krakov. As rumors go, the small town has a reputation for harboring criminals since the early 20's and now we finally have our proof. All the bodies found, belonged to those of criminals and they were all killed by some type of bazooka or bomb. The person responsible for the deceased is unknown, however Cardinal Francesco di Medici made the announcement that vigilantes are unwelcomed and even if the vigilante rid the world of some evil, those people were still children of God._

Caterina folded the newspaper when she reached the end of the article and grabbed another newspaper from two years ago. Like the attack on Krakov, the attack two years ago was on another small town and the people who died received wounds from a bazooka. It wasn't hard to connect the two attacks.

Readjusting her monocle Caterina began reading the next article.

 _ **Clergymen Murdered**_

 _ **August 13, 3058**_

 _ **By James Barrie**_

 _During mass yesterday night, a bazooka fired into a church in Prague, killing over twenty clergymen. One of the survivors of the brutal attack, said it was her father, Leon Garcia who was responsible for the brutal attack. Garcia is a rogue soldier from the Kingdom of Hispania. It is unknown why, Garcia committed such a crime against the Vatican and Hispania claims that they have nothing to do with the attack. The Vatican aren't pushing any charges against them, however if anyone is caught harboring Garcia, they will be charged-_

"Cardinal Sforza."

She jerked up, eyes locking onto the man brought before her.

Messy black hair fell to his shoulders and framed his tan rectangular face. Hands cuffed in front of him, then brought up to scratch at the stubbles on his chin. Even given the circumstances he didn't seem nervous at all, his calm dark eyes just took in everything with curiosity. Caterina raised an eyebrow at the lion like man, even from behind her podium she could smell the smoke wafting off of him.

Last night, Tres, the cyborg, had returned with Leon in tow. The man's partner had escaped but Tres assured Caterina that it would be easy to track down the silver head. A trail of blood left by a gun wound would be quite easy to follow after all.

"Thank you, Gunslinger," Caterina nodded to Tres.

The killing doll, Tres, nodded, moving a bit away from their prisoner but not so much that he wouldn't be able to reach Leon if the man tried something.

The Vatican had been trying to catch Leon for two years now, possibly even five. Luckily for Leon he was only being charged with the attack from two years ago and the shooting that he caused the day before. However, it was unfortunate that no one would ever know the true reason Leon murdered the clergymen. Or rather, the public would never be privy to that information.

The murdered clergymen, were as much criminals, as the men killed five years ago. They were part of an entire underground network for human trafficking.

If the public ever found out - it would be trouble for all of the Vatican.

"Hey there hottie," Leon spoke, shooting Caterina a wolfish grin and shaking her from her thoughts. "You know if you wanted to meet me, all you had to do was ask. There's no need for these," he lifted his hands up showing the cuffs.

Perhaps she should have requested a private audience with Leon before going to court. Unlike the many people who couldn't see past the death's he caused, Caterina could. She could recognize an asset when she saw one, and someone like Leon was needed. It was risky, but to protect her younger brother, Caterina would go as far as to hire the devil himself. Well… maybe not that far.

At his brashness, the room erupted into whispers in disapproval. The other political figures in the room looked at one another with disapproval. Leon did realize he was being prosecuted, right? Caterina sighed, figures the man she wanted to recruit would be another odd ball. But then, what would the AX be without their fair share of odd members?

Caterina leaned back in her chair, brushing away her blonde locks as she did so. "Do you know why you are here?" she asked. She needed to play this cool if she wanted this to work.

"To see you?" Leon wiggled his eye brows.

Caterina sighed. "You're being charged with the murder of thirty clergymen."

"Eh?" Leon hummed, now looking serious. "I only got about five the other day, and I thought the Vatican would overlook the death's of the clergymen who were responsible for human trafficking." His eyes flickered to the people in the room.

"There's no evidence for that," Caterina held back a smirk. She liked this man already.

"Well, no surprise there. So what's my sentence? Death?" Leon asked.

The whispers rose. Many agreed that death was for the best, but a few looked ill at the idea.

"Leon Garcia, do you admit to killing thirty clergy men?" Caterina's older brother, Francesco asked. He was the exact opposite to her shy yet kind younger brother, Alec. Caterina had to bite her tongue to stop herself from yelling at the man. She was the judge here, not him. He may be a fellow Cardinal but it was agreed upon! This was her case!

"Eh, I guess," Leon shifted to run his cuffed hands through his hair.

"Then in the name of God I sentence you to death."

"No," Caterina's voice was echoed by a much deeper voice.

A hooded figured dropped down next to Leon. In a second, hand cuffs fell to the ground.

Wha- but how did- was he hiding on the ceiling this entire time!?

"Guards! Seize that man at once!" Francesco ordered. Did his voice just shake? Caterina would have laughed if she wasn't so shocked herself.

"Stop," the figure said. All movement and sound halted, even the guards were frozen. His voice was that of glass, cutting straight to her, but so fragile that if one were to make the slightest noise, it would shatter. "If there is anyone who should be judged it is you, Francesco," the man said. Caterina had no doubt the man was glaring at her brother from behind his sunglasses.

"F-Four-eyes?" Leon stuttered, being the first to break the silence. The glass cracked. Everyone in the room breathed.

"Come Leon," his voice was angelic… that was the only way Caterina could describe it. Everyone was hanging onto every word he said. They were practically allowing him to walk away with their prisoner!

Leon shook his head. "I shouldn't. They're right, you know. I am a murderer."

"What about your daughter?"

"She would be better off without a father like me," Leon frowned. "Sh-she saw… she saw what I did. Besides you'll t-"

"Enough," Caterina found her voice. The glass shattered. Caterina had a pretty good idea that ice blue eyes were staring at her. And how strange was that? She couldn't see through the dark lenses of his glasses, and had no way of knowing his eye color but light blue sounded right. "Leon Garcia will be sent to prison for a thousand years." She shot a look at her now pale brother. "Court is adjourned."

Caterina was pleased to note that the strange man followed after Tres and Leon. If she was correct then that man was the same one she'd spotted two days ago on the roof with Leon. Shouldn't he be injured though? Tres reported shooting the man- ah- her eyes landed on the trickle of blood.

xxXxx

Abel followed after the machine and Leon, only distantly aware that they weren't being led to the cells but an interrogation room. He barely stepped into the room when the killing doll whipped around and pressed a gun to his head.

"Why are you here?"

Clearly he was here to see Leon, Abel raised a brow. Well that wasn't entirely true, he was here to break Leon out.

"Answer required," the robot said.

To threaten and demand something was never going to get anywhere with Abel. Glaring, Abel's hand snapped up. The machine was faster, he fired, Abel rolled to the side, coiled, then sprang. Good fist pounded into the machines jaw, his hand crumbled. Abel really needed a weapon. He stretched his fingers, momentarily distracted; and then pain shot up his right arm.

Damn robot going for his injury!

"Tres," someone stepped into the room. Abel chanced a glance at Caterina Sforza robed in red. He hissed when 'Tres' tightened his grip on his arm. The bullet in his arm from yesterday was still there and Abel could practically feel it shift deeper into his bicep. "Stand down, Tres."

"Affirmative," the cyborg monotoned but he didn't release Abel's arm, just stowed away his pistol. Or should he say Tres, since that's what Caterina Sforza called him.

"Who are you?" Caterina questioned Abel.

He didn't answer, just eyed the robot who was slowly beginning to crush his arm in warning. In the corner of his eye, Abel could see Leon's face morph into wonder then confusion.

Leon scowled, he opened his mouth then closed it again. "I… even I don't know. After five years, I don't even know your name!" Leon turned from them and brought his hands up to his head to pull at his hair. "Damn it, Four-eyes!" He spun back, finger pointed at Abel. "I thought we were friends."

"I came for you didn't I?" Abel murmured. Friends? Impossible. Immortals didn't have friends. Abel was only here to make sure that Leon didn't make his daughter an orphan. He'd break Leon out of jail, get Leon and his daughter set up for life somewhere in Londinium then 'die' and move on with his immortal life.

"But your name!" Leon growled. "All this time I've been calling you Four-eyes!"

Abel sighed, not sure what the big deal was, but before he or Leon could say anything more, Caterina coughed. "I have a proposition for you," she stated.

"For what?" Abel asked.

"Your freedom for a favor," Caterina responded, smiling slightly.

"You mean his freedom," Abel nodded toward Leon.

Ignoring the shout of, 'hey!' from Leon, Caterina shook her head, "no, I need the both of you."

"And what if we don't want to help you?" Abel growled.

"Leon doesn't have a choice. He has already been sentenced to jail for a thousand years, and," Caterina continued, not even giving Abel a chance to interrupt her, "if he does, some how manage to escape, we won't hesitate to aim for the kill instead of simply capturing him, on sight."

Leon hummed, "but you were saying something about my freedom?"

"In exchange for doing missions I'll mark two decades off of your sentence," Caterina nodded. "When you aren't doing missions, you'll spend your time in jail."

"Eh, sounds like a deal!" Leon declared, grinning broadly.

"Why would you require the assistance of a known criminal?" Abel glared. None of this added up. Someone as powerful as a Cardinal should have many agents she could send out on missions. Plus as a Cardinal, Caterina was a child of God. What could she possibly want, that she would go as far as to enlist the help of a criminal? And not just a regular criminal, but a murderer?

Caterina's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed together before she took a breath. "Before I answer that question, I'd like you to answer one of mine." Abel inclined his head. "Why did you say that Francesco should be judged instead of Leon?"

Because as the bastard child of the late Pope, Francesco was power hungry. Because without any evidence and with the slightest provocation he sent many innocent men to their early graves. It was in the name of God, he would say. Because there was no such thing as peace to Francesco, he loved violence and would go through a lot of trouble just to cause problems with neighboring towns. If it wasn't for Caterina, Francesco would have used deadly force on all the smaller towns who shared borders with Rome, just to claim their land. Yes, if anyone should be judged it would be Francesco di Medici. Power hungry bastard that he was… but what did he have anything to do with Caterina wanting more help?

Abel's eyes widened, understanding dawning on him. "He wants to kill your younger brother, The Pope," it was a statement. "And to protect The Pope you want Leon's help."

"Yes," Caterina nodded. "Leon specializes in Guerrilla tactics, and I could use that to gather information and sabotage any plans that could lead to Alec's assassination."

"I see," Abel mumbled. It looked like Leon would be ok even if Abel didn't help him escape. "I'll be going then." Abel ripped his arm away from Tres' grasp.

"Tres!"

Abel sidestepped a bullet. "I'm leaving," Abel growled harshly and walked out of the room.

No one followed him and Abel ignored all the looks he was getting as he headed back to his hotel.

It took a while, but eventually he found himself at his hotel and just like yesterday, he scaled the wall and entered his room via the balcony.

Abel huffed, blinking at the day old blood splattered in the room. Sighing, he slowly lifted his arm and eyed the wound, he got from Tres. He really should have taken care of it yesterday… The blasted bullet was still in his arm!

Abel prodded the wound, and it felt like a kindling fire, ready to burn off his entire arm if he stoked it far enough.

Gasping, Abel brought his good hand to put pressure on the wound and quickly scrambled toward the bathroom in hope of finding tweezers, barely paying attention to the blood getting all over the walls and ground. Abel growled when he found nothing.

Abel being the immortal that he was didn't see the point of having a first aid kit. Besides, over all these years he'd always traveled light. The only thing he owned being the cape and clothes he wore, and recently the rifle… though that was more than likely taken by the Vatican by now.

Slamming drawers open and close, Abel growled when he didn't find any signs of a first aid kit. Face set in a grimace, Abel made his way toward Leon's suitcase and started rummaging through it, giving no mind to the blood dirtying all of Leon's things.

Upon reaching the bottom of the suitcase and finding no signs of a first aid kit, Abel kicked the suitcase toward the wall.

Seriously, type of normal human doesn't carry around a first aid kit!? All humans were so fragile, getting hurt in some silly way. Abel scowled over at Leon's now bloodied suitcase, really, the man should have had some thing for injuries! Especially with his profession!

Great, only one way to do this then. Abel huffed, slipping out a knife from the sole of his boot.

With great care, Abel stuck the knife into the wound, opening it up a bit more, but finally managing to see the bullet. A few more minutes of trying to angle the blade into every which way, and finally the bullet was out. Abel sighed with relief as he wrapped his arm using scraps from his cape. It would heal within the day, without even a scar to show.

Abel dragged his eyes away from his arm and toward the room. He inwardly winced at all the blood. His eyes following the small trail of blood and leading him to the balcony.

A shadow passed over head, and for the first time in years, Abel found himself looking over the rim of his glasses. He froze. A meteor!? And it was heading - it was heading straight for the Vatican!

Abel pushed his sunglasses back up, his eyes locked on the meteor, and followed its trajectory straight for Vatican headquarters. Should he follow it? Even knowing that he wouldn't be able to stop the oncoming crash? But… it would crash any second now. There was no way he could run to the Vatican fast enough to see the crash. He'd be able to help the survivors sure…

Wait… it hadn't crashed yet. But the trajectory…

Abel hummed, quickly becoming disinterested once it was clear the meteor wasn't going to crash into any populated area. He'd let the Vatican deal with it. Right now, Abel had more concerning things to deal with, like planning his death and heading underground for a couple years.

This old man had enough excitement in the last two days to last him a couple decades…

Who cares about meteors anyway? Aliens don't exist.

* * *

A/N: I'm super rusty. Haven't written in a while.

POV Characters- Abel, Caterina, Seth, (maybe Esther)j


	3. Chapter 2: Of Princesses and Vampires

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

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Chapter 2:

(June 5, 3060 AD: Vatican)

Three months ago, Abel left Vatican territory and slipped into the underground tunnels.

Or more accurately, he ran away. Abel faked his own death, scared that someone, Leon, would put together the fact he wasn't exactly human.

Years ago, before Leon was even born, and even before his parents were born, Abel had promised himself that he would never make another friend again. Not after the last time. And yet Leon, with his insufferable teasing and boisterous laugh, had some how managed to be sorted into the acquaintance category, then friend. That friends list was so small, having only one name engraved into it. Leon.

Well that was one promise broken, and now Abel was about to break another. Or rather a rule.

Abel was about to break the single most important rule that he lived by ever since he learned he was immortal. He was going back to the Vatican.

It hadn't even been a year yet! Worse, he always made sure to wait at least half a century before traveling back to a place. Abel was always on the run. Moving from place to place, never staying longer than five years before faking his death and moving on. If he moved back into a territory, and if people recognized him, noticed he hadn't aged at all… it would spell trouble.

Bag swung over his shoulder, hood up and glasses in place, Abel approached a steal door, leading to the outskirts of the Vatican. If he was lucky, he would be in and out before anyone could recognize him.

Hopefully he'd also be welcome in the new empire that was being built in the dead zone, right beyond the Vatican. Abel almost laughed at that. It was the same area the meteor had crashed three months earlier, and people were beginning to spread rumors about aliens.

No, that's not right. People had been calling them vampires.

Abel shook his head at the thought. It was laughable. Humans these days jumped to strange conclusions. Reaching the door, Abel placed his hand on panel of the wall just as deafening bang echoed through the door and the hall shook, shedding centuries worth of dust to the ground.

The door screeched, sliding open and Abel jerked back, darting into a near corridor at the sound of voices. More curious street rats trying to break into the ruined UN base? Or was it Vatican Inquisition doing patrols?

Abel cursed silently, he should have checked the hidden cameras before placing his hand on the panel and opened the door.

"What is this place?" That voice, was distinctly female and Abel was reluctant to believe he recognized it.

"I don't know, Four-eyes and me traveled through these halls to get here."

Leon!? Abel nearly groaned out loud, recognizing that voice and horrid nickname. What the hell was that idiot doing here!? He'd better not think of traversing these halls without a guide. Moron would probably get lost. Hell, even Abel got lost every once in a while! And Abel was practically born and raised in these tunnels.

"I see. Does anyone else know about this place?" It was that female voice again, Caterina most likely.

"Nah, just me, you, and Tin Can," Abel could practically see Leon jabbing his thumb at who ever 'Tin Can' was, and he had a pretty good idea of who it was, Tres, the blasted cyborg that shot Abel. "And Four-Eyes is dead…."

"Good, lets keep it that way. I don't want anyone knowing about this place, especially not my brother. Tres, start preparing this place as a bunker incase we need to evacuate. Also, make a map of these tunnels," Caterina ordered.

"Affirmative," came the monotone voice, Tres no doubt.

Great… The exit was right there! But to get there, Abel would have to pass these people and he couldn't risk them recognizing him. Oh, who was he kidding, he looked exactly the same, down to the way he dressed. His only option was to run for another exit, but the nearest was in Milan at the catacombs. It would take at least three days for him to get there.

Abel groaned, his back hitting the wall as he slid down to the floor.

Abel could just make out the whispered words of, "did you hear that?" from Leon.

"Affirmative."

"Tres, check it out," Caterina ordered.

Leon gasped, "what if it's a vampire!? They like dark places like this don't they?"

Metal boots stomped deeper into the halls, and closer to Abel. To run, or not to run. Instincts screamed at Abel to run, to retreat into the tunnels. But Abel was tired of running. Tired of having to burn his life to the ground then pick it up and start all over again. Couldn't people just accept him for what he was? An immortal? Couldn't people leave him alone and live life the way he wanted to?

Of course, Abel had wanted that for years. To be accepted. But… there was too many buts. The consequences of someone learning about him drowned out any positives there could have been. Abel hadn't survived this long by revealing himself to all the humans that he came across.

Abel had a friend he'd told once. ' _There's nothing you can do, that would break our friendship.'_ Those were the words of his friend before he was stabbed in the back. ' _You're immortal?'_ Greed, coated his friends words, then jealously. _'I thought we were friends. I'd do anything for you!'_ And then Abel was betrayed. He'd never trust another human again! ' _Monster! If I can't live forever then neither can you!'_ That incident was followed by years of torture, nearly as bad as what he went through at the UN. The only reason why Abel had managed to escape was because the backstabber died of old age and greed convinced him not to tell anyone about Abel.

He'd nearly forgotten why he couldn't trust humans. Abel pushed the memories away, as he forced himself to stand up, mind made up. He wouldn't reveal himself to the three people who just invaded his tunnels… Milan it was. It would take him longer, but it was safer.

XXX

(June 10, 3060 AD: Vatican)

Caterina signed off on another document when someone knocked and the door swung open, a group of three men walked through, but she ignored them, simply continuing to read the documents before her. When she finally finished signing off on the documents a moment later, she pushed them away and looked at the men before her.

"Professor," Caterina acknowledged as she leaned forward and steepled her fingers before her. "You came sooner than I expected."

The wizened man smiled, tapping a finger to the wooden pipe he was never without. William Walter Wordsworth, otherwise known as the Professor let out a billowing cloud of smoke. Caterina just rolled her eyes, long used to her former teacher's quirks.

Finally he opened his mouth, smile turning troubled as he whined, "my wife kicked me out! Can you believe it? She actually cursed our child, Poseidon!"

"Pft, your robot isn't a child!" Leon barked, pointing an accusing finger at the Professor. "How a man like you could ever have such a beauty as a wife…. it's beyond me. A real man should be having read kids!"

"Hey now, Poseidon is our child! We both made her with love," William argued.

Caterina coughed, breaking up the argument. Amusement twinkled in her eyes, but she dared not join in on their teasing. "I assume, Tres and Leon has shown you the tunnels?"

"Ah, yes. I believe it would make a perfect bunker incase of an attack. However, the tunnels are dark and doesn't allow for any natural light. It would be far to easy for a vampire to attack in there. They wouldn't have to fear the sun's rays."

"I thought so," Caterina hummed. "Still, I want it to be available incase something does happen." She eyed Tres and Leon, silently hoping they got the message. The tunnels would be used as a hide out for her and Alec ( her younger brother, the pope) if they ever needed it. "And I trust you won't tell anyone about this?" Caterina's steely gaze locked on bright blue eyes.

"Of course not, my lady," William smirked. But it wasn't unkind. A smirk was just how William tended to smile.

Caterina nodded in thanks. "Also I was-"

"Oh," William interrupted, approaching Caterina's desk as he lifted his suitcase and started undoing the latch. "I almost forgot. About the tunnels, I found something curious. You see, Tres has large feet and always wears the standard issued boots for priests. However I found these footprints, just as large, if just a bit skinnier, in the tunnels." William handed her a picture of the footprint in question. It was hard to make out, the dust the footprint was in was nearly invisible to see in the picture.

"What do you think this means?" Caterina questioned.

The Professor shrugged. "Not only that but if you travel a mile into the tunnels, from the entrance, its nearly free of dust," he paused, passing Caterina another picture. "But the most curious thing of all is the tunnels is made up of lost technology, I'm shocked you were even able to open the door. I believe someone has been living there." He handed Caterina another picture. "And I believe someone was just about to leave, right when you three were at the door."

Caterina eyed the pictures. The first was that of the tunnels, completely free of dust and looking completely clean. The steel wall on one side looked spectacularly shiny but the other wall was made of glass and looked into what looked like a kitchen. From what Caterina could see, the kitchen was just as clean as the halls, and if she squinted she could just make out an overfilled trashcan.

Did Leon live in there for some time? He did say he traveled through the tunnels to get to the Vatican after all.

Looking over the next picture, Caterina raised a fine eyebrow at what was obviously lost technology. Caterina stared at the picture of a clear, bluish, glass panel with grids in the shape of a hand. Caterina wasn't an expert in lost technology, but she knew enough to know that only certain people would be keyed into the base if it only let people in by their hand prints. Those people were probably long dead. The tunnels were obviously ancient, so 'Four-eyes' was either a genius hacker or he lived for a really long time. Clearly he was a genius hacker, but was Leon also a hacker? And who was the one who opened the door?

"Explain," Caterina ordered, looking around William, causing the older man to turn and follow her gaze toward Leon.

The feral man blinked, pointing to himself. He looked completely lost and just as confused as she was. Caterina sighed, massaging her temples.

"Never mind," she shook her head. Of course, Leon couldn't be a hacker, he had no patience for such an art. "Tres, I want you to scout the tunnels in a two mile radius. Have a map drawn by Saturday. William, can you check the fingerprints against our files. See if it matches anything? Leon, in two days William and I will be going to the vampire camps-"

"Isn't two days from now, Saturday?" Leon rudely interrupted.

"Yes."

"But you just told Tin Can-"

"I know what I told him," Caterina stated, eyes narrowing at the (stupid) man. "We'll leave as soon as Tres returns. William has a student who pilots an airship. We'll be taking that to the vampire camps."

"Why? And why's the professor going with you? Why are you telling me all this?" Leon huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Caterina nearly rolled her eyes at the grown man and the pout he placed on his face.

Leaning back into her chair, Caterina nodded to Tres, silently excusing him to follow her order before turning back to Leon. "William and I are going to have peace talks with whoever leads the vampires. And I want you to come with us."

XXX

Having to traverse the tunnels to get to Milan took longer than Abel had expected, but he was nearly there.

The grime and damp feel of the catacombs, forced Abel to rely on only memory as he weaved through the maze of rubble of the pitch black catacombs. He didn't want to touch anything unpleasant. The smell of the place was bad enough, that of death and rot, muck and dirt. No need to touch anything and have the stench cling to him.

If Abel's internal timer was correct, it was nearly dusk. The perfect time for him to be traveling through the city. He could stick to the shadows and no one would spot him, and even if he did, the night was the time thugs roamed the streets, so no one sane would dare approach him and Abel could easily silence a few thugs that did.

Finally, a breeze of fresh air, swept through the dark caves just as Abel melted out of it's shadow and stepped into the light of the setting sun.

Taking a breath of fresh air, Abel faced west. He'd have to pass through some of Rome, then Istvan. With any luck, he should reach the dead zone within two days.

Setting out in a brisk pace, Abel melted into the shadows of city. He stuck to the back alleys, never leaving the shadows and kept his head down, lest someone recognize him.

A few thugs sneered at him, but when Abel gave them no mind they left him alone. Figuring he's not worth it. Abel probably looked like a bum himself. His coat had seen better days, the edges tattered and filled with holes. His sack also had several mismatching patches. If anyone bothered opening it, they'd only find a journal and pistol. Abel kept no cash on him… hell he probably was homeless, now that he thought of it.

Abel sighed, sidestepping the swaying form of a drunk boy and slipping into the nearby shadow of another building.

"Hey."

Abel paused his stride. That was quite a feminine voice for a boy.

"C-can you help me?" the boy gasped out.

The boy wasn't drunk, Abel realized, he was injured. Turning, Abel jerked his head to a bench that sat below a light post, silently telling the child to follow him. As much as Abel wished to be out of sight, he couldn't ignore a cry of help from a child. And Abel had a feeling something was wrong. He'd get to the bottom of it.

Once the child was sitting on the bench, Abel studied him, trying to determine what was wrong. He could smell blood in the air, Abel's eyes narrowed. "Where are you hurt?"

"A vampire got to me…"

Abel rolled his eyes. Vampire? Really? No such thing. "You got bitten?" Abel asked, playing along.

"Yeah," the child nodded. "No one will let me into the inns. They think I'll turn."

"Turn?" Abel asked as he knelt down to inspect the child. Sure enough two incisions were bleeding on the child's neck.

"You know, turn into a vampire."

"I'm not sure how much I can help you. I don't have anyplace for you to stay and I have no bandages. I'd rip my coat up, but they're filthy and would do more harm than good. Wouldn't want that to get infected," Abel stood, eyeing the child's silk suit. It looked expensive, the panels layered for a nobleman and clean. He could rip the suit up to make bandages, but he wasn't sure how much the boy would like that.

"Oh, that's ok…. I guess."

"I could rip of end of your coat and use it as a bandage if you like. It looks clean enough," Abel offered.

"N-no, that's ok," the child squeaked out. Abel raised a brow at that, the boy sounded extremely girly. "Uh, my father would be upset."

Father. A word that wasn't used often in these parts. And Abel hadn't noticed it before, but the child also had an accent that was native to Londinium. Abel took in the red hair sticking out from under a hat and met the blue eyes that were half hidden under the lid.

Abel leaned forward and the child took a step back. On a whim Abel flicked the lid of the cap, sending it flying off the child's head.

The child gasped, slim hands flying up to _her_ head as red hair floated down and around _her_ shoulders.

Abel gaped, jaw dropping. He expected it to be a girl. But he wasn't expecting it to be the Londinium princess, Esther Blanchett. What was the girl doing so far from her country?

"Why did you do that!?" the red head snapped. She reached for her hat and shoved it over her head, forcing her loose hair under the rim.

"…Sorry," Abel mumbled after a while, eyeing the… princess. Technically _his_ princess, since he'd been born in London… called Londinium now.

"Whatever, just don't tell anyone," Esther ordered.

"I wouldn't dream of it," Abel stated. "But why are you here exactly."

The princess looked away, tilting her chin up and to the side, in a typical sign of defiance. "Why are you skulking around the city?" she shot back instead of answering.

"Avoiding vampires," Abel grunted. He wanted to leave now, more than ever. This was dangerous. He'd met this girl once, when she was three years old. The same age human's began to remember things. Abel feared she'd remember him. She was bound to remember the incident at least, when she was kidnapped, and if she didn't remember him her father, the prince, was bound to remember a vague outline of what he looked like.

Tugging his hood even lower over his face, Abel took a step back, bumping into someone as he did so.

"Ah, excuse me," Abel said as he turned to the person. "I didn't - I didn't see you there," Abel stumbled over his words, his eyes firmly took in the white coat lined in blue. _UN,_ his mind supplied. He owned a coat similar to this one when he'd first been created. _They_ , owned clothes of the same make. The scientists.

Kill. It was the only thing on his mind now, kill the scientist to stay safe.

Abel threw himself forward, aiming a punch at the UN scum but the man dodged, faster than an enhanced human. _Faster_ than _Abel._

Abel didn't have a chance, didn't even see it until the clawed hand was latched onto his outstretched arm. Claws dug into the thin fabric of his coat and pierced skin, there was a sickening crunch and Abel screamed. His legs buckled and he fell to his knees.

The monster chuckled, dropping Abel's arm and licking his hand free of Abel's blood.

"V-vampire!" Esther screamed, and Abel risked a glance at her.

What he saw had his heart stop. Two figures, stood over Esther, bloodied fangs flitting in the moon light. No! He wouldn't let another suffer by the UN!

Damn it! Abel fished out his gun, took aim, and fired. Two shots went off, both hitting each vampire in the chest.

"Esther, run!" Abel shouted, as he scrambled to get up and aim his next bullet at the vampire before him, but he wasn't nearly fast enough.

It happened so fast. In the span of only a second, the vampire hulled Abel up by his hair and hurled him at a building. Abel's head bounced off the wall, and his vision swam. The vampire was before him in a millisecond, and before Abel knew it the vampire was leaning over him, his face in the crook of his neck.

Fangs scraping over his neck was the only warning Abel got as the vampire sank his fangs into him.

* * *

A/N: It's safe to say I went against my original outline for this story. Esther wasn't supposed to appear in this story until much later, oh well. It's hard writing from Abel's POV when he has no one to interact with.


	4. Chapter 3: Vampire or Methuselah

I own nothing

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 **Chapter 3:**

 **Same day as last chapter**

 **(June 10, 3060 AD: Vatican)**

 _It happened so fast. In the span of only a second, the vampire hulled Abel up by his hair and hurled him at a building. Abel's head bounced off the wall, and his vision swam. The vampire was before him in a millisecond, and before Abel knew it the vampire was leaning over him, his face in the crook of his neck._

 _Fangs scraping over his neck was the only warning Abel got as the vampire sank his fangs into him._

Abel went rigid. His entire world exploded in pain, unlike anything he ever experienced before.

It felt as if his blood was replaced with sand, and each gulp the vampire took rubbed his veins raw. With each drop that left him, Abel's heart pumped harder to make up for the lost blood but all it did was race to the wound on his neck where the vampire was still latched on.

 _Move damn it!_ Abel screamed in his mind. But he couldn't. It hurt too much to even try. His limbs felt like led, and if not for the vampire holding him, Abel was sure he would have collapsed by now.

His blood was turning sluggish, and still the vampire tried to suck him dry. His heart was slowing with the lack of blood to pump. It burned! His veins felt as if it had been rubbed raw and then torn to shreds.

Curse whatever moron thought getting your blood sucked by a vampire would feel better than sex!

"Stop," Abel rasped, just as an ivory blur appeared behind the vampire and a silver dagger flashed in the moonlight.

The vampire howled in pain and blood gushed from his mouth and onto Abel just as the blur materialized and snarled, _"release the Terran!"_ in a language Abel barely recognized. One that wasn't spoken anymore.

The vampire released Abel. It's breath was ragged as it twisted to pull out the dagger in his shoulder. But Abel felt no pity for the monster that was now in pain and kicked the vampire away.

 _"Tend to the Terran,"_ a male voice said as two figures appeared out of the shadows and advanced on the vampire. _"We'll handle this rogue."_

 _"This is stupid, the Terran won't understand me,"_ Abel's savior said. The woman drew a hand through her ivory hair as she looked down at Abel.

 _"Astharoshe!"_ the male snapped.

" _Yeah, yeah!"_ the woman grumbled. _"I heard you Uncle Virgil! But he still won't understand what I say!"_ Astharoshe eyed Abel and his bloodied neck and huffed as she hoisted her bag and opened it, grabbing bandages.

Abel groaned, warily watching her every motion. Like hell, would he let some random person clean his wound! His neck already felt numb and Abel knew it would be healed within a hour… his crushed arm on the other hand would take a while.

 _"This is like talking to a deaf man,"_ Astharoshe mumbled. _"I'm going to clean your wound,"_ she motioned to the bandages and towel in her hand. _"Not that you understand me."_ She leaned forward, reaching for Abel's hand which was clamped on his neck.

 _"Don't touch me,"_ Abel snapped, slapping her hand away.

 _"What!?_ " The other woman next to Virgil gasped, just as Astharoshe said, _"he knows the Imperial tongue?"_

Abel ignored them though, and pushed himself off the wall. He nearly fell as his legs took on the full weight of his body, but he forced himself to limp his way to Esther.

The princess was frozen with fear even when they were now safe. The poor girl had never seen someone die before. Friend or enemy, it was obvious the Princess felt some remorse over what happened to the two vampires that would have killed her if Abel hadn't shot them. She shivered, wrapping her fragile arms over her torso.

"Are you ok?" Abel asked as he kneeled before the princess.

The girl just blinked, slowly dragging her eyes away from the bodies and to Abel. She flinched.

Abel's insides curled and recoiled at the action. She hated him! Those eyes! Abel could see the fear in them. But they weren't toward the vampire. No, Esther was scared of Abel.

Abel stood, tugging his hood lower over his face. "You're safe now. These people can take care of you," he said gently. Turning, Abel didn't meet anyone's gaze as he spoke in that same ancient language they called the Imperial tongue. _"Astharoshe is it? Please tend to her wounds."_

 _"What!? How do you know my name?_ " Astharoshe barked the question.

 _Virgil called you that a minute ago,_ Abel wanted to state but stayed silent. He knew he wasn't welcomed here anymore. After all he'd just killed in front of the crown princess. Damn it! What a stupid move! He'd be on the most wanted list as soon as Esther returned home! Even if he protected her, he'd still hurt her mentally.

 _"Answer me, Terran!"_ Astharoshe disappeared and reappeared before Abel. She moved like a vampire! Her hand snaked around the collar of his coat and she hefted him up. _"Tell me!"_ she snarled, fangs flashing.

 _"Astheroshe Asran! You put that man down, right now!"_ Virgil ordered, racing toward the three of them just as Abel slammed the elbow of his good arm into Astharoshe's jaw.

The woman's head barely snapped back and she gave him a good shake in response.

 _"But Uncle,"_ Astharoshe's voice almost seemed to take on a whine.

 _"You're awakened now, you could harm a Terran without even knowing it."_

Astharoshe huffed and released her grip on his cape. Abel took a step back. He was careful not to get to close to Esther, but now he was wary of leaving her side. Astharoshe was as quick as a vampire, she even had fangs. Abel cast a glance to Virgil then to the lady who helped him take care of the vampire who drank Abel's blood.

They were all vampires.

And to think just an hour before, Abel was agains the idea of myths coming alive.

 _"What are you guys?"_ Abel asked.

 _"We're Methuselah. My name is Virgil Walsh."_ The man lifted his hand up to shake but Abel didn't move to grab it. There was an uncomfortable silence for a while, and Abel was sure he heard Astharoshe huff before Virgil finally dropped his hand. _"Ah, are handshakes not the norm anymore? I apologize."_

He was not expecting Abel to give his name was he? The uncomfortable silence returned. Aw, hell. He was, wasn't he. No way in hell was Abel giving out his name!

 _"Methuselah?"_ Abel asked instead.

 _"I believe your kind would compare us to vampires, but we prefer to call ourselves Methuselah,"_ Virgil stated.

 _"And why did you help me?"_

Astharoshe rudely let out a breath. "Because you looked like you needed help."

 _"But I just killed two of your people,"_ Abel pointed out.

 _"I don't need an excuse to help people!"_ Astharoshe snapped. _"And they're not our people. They're rogues."_

Virgil softly sighed. A look of exasperation crossing his face. _"Your Aunt is such a bad influence on you,"_ he whispered so softly that if Abel had been a normal human he wouldn't have caught it.

" _Right…"_ Abel said slowly. It didn't look like they were about to hurt Esther, so maybe he could leave now. _"I'll be going now."_ He made to move but was stopped by a firm hand. Abel frowned, glaring through his shades at the man.

 _"I'd like to ask you a few questions first,"_ Virgil said. _"First off, how do you know our native tongue?"_

Fine, Abel would play along for now.

 _"Books._ "

" _Are Terrans usually so willing to leave their companions behind?"_ Virgil fired another question, motioning to Esther.

 _"We aren't traveling together."_

 _"Would you be willing to teach my people the language of this land?"_ He asked another.

 _"No."_

Virgil nodded, not even arguing to try to persuade Abel otherwise. He seemed to study Abel and locked his gaze on the reflective glass of Abel's shades before he asked, " _what's your name?"_

Abel glared, _"my name is none of your concern."_

 _"I suppose you're right,"_ Virgil relented and dropped his arm. _"However, what are you? It's clear you aren't a normal Terran. If you were, you would have been dead by now. And you're clearly not a Methuselah."_

 _"But I am alive, and I am a human,"_ Abel replied. "I'll be going now."

He gave a short nod and stepped to the side. But his vision blurred, his head swam, and his ears rang. Abel forced himself to stop moving as he focused on the ground, trying to regain his equilibrium. It wasn't helping though, and even as he continued breathing, darkness consumed him from all sides.

His mind yelled at him, to snap out of it. Abel could still feel his feet beneath him even as he swayed. Knew the Methuselah were shouting at him, though he couldn't make out the words. His eyes were open, but all Abel could see was darkness.

"Damn it," Abel growled loudly, but to him his own voice sounded muffled. He was going to pass out... or maybe he already had.

* * *

 **A/N:** This is an AU, so any problems you may have with Asthe calling Virgil, Uncle, should be taken up with the AU gods. On that note, Virgil is not related to Asthe by blood, it's just what she calls him. The only blood relation she has, is to Sulaymon.

This is the shortest chapter I've had in a while. Only 1.5k words. I remember when all my chapters of my first fan fiction had 1.5k words. But anyway, I couldn't bring myself to write more for this chapter.

Thank you for any reviews, positive or negative, they're greatly appreciated and helpful.


	5. Chapter 4: Missing Love

I own nothing

"Latin"

 _"English, AKA Imperial Language"_

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Missing Love**

 **(June 11, 3060 AD: Vatican)**

Pain throbbed through Abel's head. Groaning through the headache, Abel blindly reached for his glasses. Of course his hand came back empty. He groaned again, turning onto his side. What happened? If felt as if someone decided to bash his skull in.

"You're up!" Someone shifted to his side and Abel opened his eyes, only to shut them again. It was too bright!

"Esther?" Abel asked, not quite believing the voice. But it could only belong to her. Wasn't she scared of him? "How long have I been out?"

"About a day," Esther said, and Abel could feel her shifting again. "The sun just set."

Damn, that meant he was an entire day behind schedule! He had wanted to get to the dead zone within two days, but it didn't look like that was going to happen now. Eye's still closed, Abel sat up and slowly squinted open his eyes as he looked around him.

"Where's my glasses?"

"One second." Esther got up and when she came back she handed him his shades. "You know, you have very pretty eyes. Why do you wear sunglasses?"

Blue eyes snapped open, and Abel winced. His eyes watered and he blinked away the tears before quickly wiping them from his face. Snatching his shades from Esther, Abel pushed them into place.

His eyes were not pretty! He's a man, darn it! Nothing about him was pretty!

"Where are we anyway?" Abel scanned the small room they were in. Most of the walls were splintered with cracks, allowing the sun's rays to shine through. Abel was currently on the only couch, brown and crusted with filth. A window was near the head and over it was a dark blanket to keep the sun out. And in the corner, possibly the only one where the sun couldn't reach, were three huddled figures.

Abel caught the eyes of Astharoshe just as Esther answered, "I'm not sure, but I think we're on the border of Rome and Istvan."

"Istvan?" Abel repeated, looking toward Esther. That was great news. If they were at the border of Istvan he might just get to the dead zone within 24 hours after all. But that was strange, they were still in Milan when they got attacked by the vampires. Though with the help of the three Methuselah, it might have been possible.

Abel turned his gaze back to the three Methuselah. It was clear they had no intention of attacking Abel or Esther for their blood. But it was also obvious that they were vampires, Virgil had even admitted to it. Astharoshe had also called the vampires who attacked them, rogues. Did that mean there were two groups of vampires? Were the rogues originally part of the same community Astharoshe, her aunt, and uncle came from?

This whole mess started when the meteor had crashed. That much Abel knew. Was it possible that the Methuselah was part of some alien race? Abel nearly laughed. A day before he would have thought anything of the sort impossible, but now he wasn't too sure.

 _"Why are you staring at me?"_ Astharoshe growled.

Abel blinked, pushing his shades further up his nose. _"Thinking. Besides, you were glaring at me first,"_ he said in English.

Astharoshe looked about ready to attack him. The only thing stopping her was the sleeping forms of her aunt and uncle on either side of her, using her shoulder as a pillow. _"You look like him,_ " she said.

 _"Me?"_ Abel laughed. No one looked like him. There was no one who had silver hair like his.

 _"Don't laugh!"_ Astharoshe hissed, no doubt trying to keep her voice low to keep from waking the other Methuselah. _"You look like our emperor."_

 _"Sure, I do,"_ Abel drawled. Because clearly every emperor had silver hair. Abel rolled his eyes as he drew a hand through his hair, but froze. His coat and cape were gone. Abel's hand shot to his neck, right where he'd been bitten and his fingers met smooth skin.

This was not good. They'd seen what he looked like! Oh Abel didn't care about the Methuselah. Well maybe a little. But he was more concerned with the fact that the princess saw him. Abel remembered that night when he saved her thirteen years ago. His hood had fallen off during the fight, and later his cape had been torn from his shoulders. Then Abel had handed the crying child over the prince! Abel resisted the urge to look at Esther.

Not only had they seen his face, but they no doubt noticed how fast he healed.

 _"You even make the same face when you're freaked out,"_ Astharoshe pointed out. _"Though, you look older by about ten years. He also has blond hair and darker eyes."_

Abel took a breath, forcing himself to calm down and just focus on the current conversation. _"There's a lot of people with blond hair and blue eyes."_

 _"I guess,"_ Astharoshe grumbled. "But I still don't like you."

It's not like he cared if she liked him or not. Abel raised an eye brow. Did she hate the fact he looked like her emperor? Abel shook his head, he'd never understand people. It's not like he could change the way he looked!

 _"Why were you guys in Milan, anyway?"_ Abel asked, deciding to change topics.

 _"The Walsh's originated from London, so my Aunt and Uncle wanted to go there and maybe settle down."_

 _"You're a Walsh too?"_

 _"No, I'm an Asran!"_ Astharoshe growled, she almost seemed offended that he asked. _"They raised me when my parents died!"_

Next to her, the other female methuselah shifted, blearily opening her eyes. " _Asthe, why are you shouting so early?"_

 _"Sorry, Aunt Vanessa, I was speaking to the Terran._ "

Abel huffed, _"we're human, not Terran."_

Vanessa looked toward him, and grinned, showing off her fangs. _"You're a Terran."_

Abel glared, but didn't argue. It would take too much time to convince them otherwise. _"If you were trying to get to Londinium, why did you backtrack to Istvan?"_ Abel asked instead.

 _"None of your business-"_

 _"Vanessa,"_ Virgil sighed, moving to sit up. _"Really, sometimes it feels like I've raised two children instead of one,"_ the man whispered before looking toward Abel and saying, _"our Empress provided us with a brief layout of safe houses we could rest in during the day. But we don't have the exact location. I decided the safest option was for use to return here to rest for the day."_

Abel nodded, just as Esther interrupted, "hey, what are you guys talking about?" She looked between the four of them while the methuselah all sent Abel a questioning look as if expecting him to translate. "I recognized some words, like Londinium…"

Abel sighed and responded in Latin, "we're discussing traveling plans. They're heading for Londinium."

"Ooh," Esther blinked, no doubt thinking on her home country. "And where are you heading?"

"The dead zone."

"Really? Me too."

 _"Hey!"_ Astharoshe snapped, _"Translate for us idiot!"_

 _"I am,"_ Abel sighed. _"I'm telling her where you guys are going."_

"What did she say?" Esther asked and Abel groaned.

"Nothing important," Abel said. "But don't you think you should head back to Londinium as well?"

"No," Esther stated, replacing her smile with a frown. "I'm not going back."

Abel rolled his eyes as he explained to the Methuselah that Esther was from Londinium but didn't want to return.

When he done talking, Esther stepped forward, grin back on her face as she pointed to herself and said, "Esther."

Virgil was the first to reply as he smiled kindly at the child and gave a slight bow, saying his name as well. Astharoshe was next, having been prompted by Virgil who elbowed her in the gut. "Asthe," she grunted. And finally Vanessa gave her name with a feral grin.

Then, in sync all of them turned to Abel as if expecting him to say his name as well. The immortal just glared, saying "no" in both languages. All of them looked unhappy about the answer, except Virgil who gave an accepting smile. Didn't the man ever get mad?

Abel sighed, shaking his head as he stood and nearly fell back down when his head swam, but he pushed the feeling away and walked to the chair with his belongings. If he wanted to stay on schedule, he should head out soon. Abel quickly slipped into his coat and threw his cape over his shoulders, pulling his hood on as he did so.

 _"You're going to travel at night?"_ Astharoshe asked, as Abel slung his bag over his shoulder.

 _"Yes, I've wasted enough time here,"_ Abel responded. He eyed Esther for a bit, debating on if he should offer to travel together, but in the end he dismissed the idea. So far she hasn't said anything about recognizing him, but that could change at anytime.

 _"That eager to get bitten again, huh?"_ Astharoshe teased. _"It would be easier for your kind to travel during the day."_

Abel frowned, that was true but more people would notice him in the day. _"That vampire got lucky, it won't happen again. This time I won't be distracted,"_ Abel shot a look at Esther and the girl flinched as if knowing what they were talking about. "Sorry," Abel mumbled. He shouldn't be putting the blame on the princess. In the end it was his own fault for not noticing the danger they were in.

 _"Why don't you go with him?"_ Virgil asked.

" _What? Why?"_ Astharoshe shook her head. _"I want to go to London."_

 _"Asthe, I've known you since you were a baby. I think I can tell when you want to do something or not,"_ Virgil stated.

 _"Yeah, but-"_

 _"No buts!_ " Vanessa interrupted. _"We can take care of ourselves."_ She ruffled Astharoshe's hair.

 _"Don't I get a say in this?"_ Abel grumbled.

 _"Hmm, let me think,"_ Vanessa put a hand on her hip and made a thinking pose. _"Nope!"_

The family broke into snickers at this, as if it were an inside joke.

 _"Alright, fine. I'll go, but only to make sure Esther gets there safely,"_ Astharoshe said, sending the girl a small smile similar to the one Virgil always wore.

"What did she just say?" Esther questioned, titling her head to the side.

Why didn't anyone ask for his opinion? Abel didn't want any traveling companions. He didn't want to travel with Astharoshe, and he really didn't want to travel with Esther. Though, if he was honest with himself, he would have been worried for the princess if she didn't travel with him.

"Looks, like Asthe will be traveling with us to the dead zone," Abel sighed. Without waiting for a response, Abel exited the dilapidated building.

The sun had set but it was still light out. It would take another twenty minutes before it became completely dark. Abel scanned the top of the buildings, eyes following the sun rays to see where they landed. It wouldn't do for Astharoshe to get burned after all.

Abel shifted to lean against the wall of the building when he saw a figure run across the rooftops. Frowning, Abel followed the figure with his eyes. It seemed as if the person knew Abel was watching, because every once in awhile it would stop and look back.

"People are so weird," Abel mumbled as he dropped his gaze.

He was about to duck back into the building to see if the girls were ready when a whistle pierced through night. Abel looked back up, not at all impressed as he raised an eyebrow at the figure.

As Abel locked gazes with the figure, a young man with brown hair and aristocratic features, the door open and Esther stepped out. "What was that?" she asked.

"Just one of the town folks," Abel said as he pointed, not once taking his eyes off the young man.

A second later Esther gasped. "I-I can't move!"

What? Abel glanced back at her, just as an invisible force threw his hood down and his shades were yanked off his face. Abel snarled, preparing to run up the building toward the culprit, but his sensitive eyes were assaulted by the reflection of light on a blade.

Blinded for a second, Abel was barely aware of Esther flying to the roof.

Without his shades on, Abel could see the thin fibers of string stretching from building to building. They nearly encased the entire sky in an intricate webbing. He was also able to see the strings attached to his cape and shades. But most importantly he could see the threads leading toward the man on the roof.

Abel felt a cruel smirk growing on his face as he dashed forward. No one would get hurt or kidnapped on his watch! He leapt for the nearest ledge then flung himself at the opposite wall. Nearly there! Abel ran up the remaining height of the wall until he was standing on the roof.

"Who are you!?" Abel ordered. He took a threatening step toward the young man.

"I'm in love," the boy grinned.

"What?" Esther yelped. "Who ties up someone they love? And I don't even know you!"

"That I like you… isn't a lie, Esther," the boy stated, sending a wink to the tied up girl at his feet. "Though it is a shame," his eyes narrowed. "See, you're such a distraction, princess."

"Release her," Abel ordered, this would be his only warning before Abel attacked.

"Ah," the boy took a step back, dragging Esther with him until they reached the other edge of the roof. If they fell, that was a ten story drop. The boy bowed, and when he straightened he leapt from the roof. "I think not, Contra Mundi."

Contra Mundi? Abel? He might be alone in the world, but he wasn't against it!

"Get back here!" Abel yelled, as he crossed the length of the roof and jumped after them. But Abel could see the strings attached to the boy and helping him cross the gap from one roof to the other, and Abel could feel those same strings pulling him down. Abel snarled in defiance as he plummeted toward the grown. Those strings!

Suddenly Astharoshe leapt into the air and snagged him by the collar. " _You idiot!"_ she snarled as she hurled him onto a roof, but not the roof Abel wanted to be on. Where was Esther? Abel leapt up, scanning nearby roof tops.

"Well," the kidnappers cheery voice sounded to the right and Abel whipped around, ready to leap at the boy again. But he wasn't alone anymore. Now there was a man of Asian decent with long black hair, standing next to him. "This is goodbye for now, Contra Mundi."

The long haired man lifted his arm and from his hand, symbols of alchemy burned into the air and ripped open a rift into which they slipped into, dragging Esther along with them.

No! Abel tore away from Astharoshe and was about to jump at the still open portal when the woman grabbed hold of him and yanked him away from the edge.

 _"Are you completely dense?"_ Astharoshe snarled. _"You just healed and your arm is still broken!"_ She grabbed him by the collar and shook him, forcing him to look at her. "Are you even listening to me?"

Why did she stop him? He could have saved Esther! Abel blinked, taking in the burns on her face and arms. _"Asthe, you're injured,"_ he said.

 _"Yeah, that's what happens when Methuselah are saving idiots like you from becoming pancakes!"_

Abel winced, feeling slightly bad. _"Sorry,"_ he mumbled.

 _"Next time, ask for help idiot,"_ Astharoshe ordered as she released his collar.

 _"Asthe, are you ok?"_ Virgil called. He was on the same roof the portal had appeared on.

 _"Yes, I'm already healing."_

 _"Good, though you might want to drink some aqua vitae,"_ Virgil said as he leapt onto the same roof as Abel. _"They dropped this,"_ he handed a slip of paper to Abel. _"Can you read it?"_

Taking the folded paper, Abel read it over, "'-renovatur integra.' _It means; nature is reborn whole. It looks like a response for something."_ Abel unfolded the paper, revealing a map of the continent.

 _"Are those dates?"_ Vanessa asked, pointing to the numbers near the points circled.

Abel scanned it, frown creasing his features. A bunch of numbers were scrawled on the paper, and arrows and circles pointed to different parts of the continent. The latest year was 3060 with an arrow pointed to the Vatican, and then in 3055 a circle was scribbled over Hispania. This was odd, it almost seemed as if they were cataloging something. Abel looked over the map, trying to find the date before that. When he found it, it was in 3048 in Londinium. Wasn't that when he met WWW and ended up saving Esther?

Abel's eyes widened, finally understanding what this map was. It was literally a record of everyplace he had ever been to. He frantically found the earliest year, _2118_. That was when the armageddon took place.

But how could someone track his movement for nine hundred years? They would have to be immortal too. Either that, or incredibly good at back tracking his movement and following the rumors that always spread whenever Abel was around.

 _"Hey, I think there's something on the back,"_ Astharoshe said, breaking him from his thoughts. Abel turned the paper over and Asthe pointed to the middle, _"occurens loco, Londinium? What the hell does that mean?"_

 _"The meeting place is in Londinium,"_ Abel translated.

* * *

A/N: So yeah, that just happened... Abel just can't get a break, can he?

Thank you for any reviews, positive or negative, they're greatly appreciated and helpful.


	6. Chapter 5: Lost Technology Mechanics

Chapter 5:

(June 20, 3060 AD: Londinium)

With this many people around him, Abel felt justified when he tensed at even the slightest movements from the trio of vampires. Their closeness was beginning to fray on his nerves. All Abel wanted to do was forget about this whole mess, turn around and sleep for the next ten years. Dead zone be damned, Abel had enough human interaction to last him for quite a while.

The last time he'd been in the presence of so many people was when he was just a test subject, and ever since the Armageddon broke out and Abel gained his freedom, he always limited the number of people he interacted with at once.

Abel was a pro at handling one person. He could even handle a certified man-child like Leon for extended periods of time, but in all of Abel's years, he never had to share his breathing space with three other people for more than five minutes.

And it was pushing ten days!

The fact they were underground, wasn't helping anything. He should never have offered to lead the trio of vampires to Londinium. When he offered, he was of the mind that he'd lead them through the night and find shelter in the day, but Virgil had derailed that idea.

"Our Empress made us a map of an underground tunnel," Virgil had said.

As if it wasn't enough that Leon and the Vatican were encroaching on his territory, now Abel also had an entire population of vampire's to worry about!

Bitterly, Abel trailed after the trio of vampires in the dark tunnels. He hadn't turned on the lights in hopes of scaring them off, but it appeared that they could see perfectly fine without light and had instead been worried about Abel -the supposed human- traversing in the dark.

"The architecture of these tunnels reminds me of home," Astharoshe said, breaking Abel from his thoughts.

He guessed that meant they came from an advanced society. The buildings of today were rather crude in Abel's opinion. But then, he'd been alive when buildings were made of metal and glass that were integrated with technology.

Virgil hummed, "these were built pre-armageddon, so I'm not surprised. Imagine how much more advanced everything could be if the war never happened?" He said almost sadly.

"Pft," Vanessa scoffed. "If Armageddon never happened, we wouldn't be here you moron. Now be quiet so I can figure this out," she ordered as she tapped away at the device in her hand.

If Abel wasn't certain that these three could best him in a fight, he'd have destroyed that pad within a second. It was that device which led to his tunnels being invaded in the first place. It was scary how accurate it mapped out the tunnels.

Abel peered over Vanessa's shoulder to look at the map printed on the screen. They had taken a wrong turn a fork away. The exit Vanessa had led them to collapsed several centuries ago, but Abel hadn't told her this, so it was really no one's fault but his, that they would be stuck for another hour or so.

Still, they'd be out of here within the day. Then Abel would find Esther, find out how the kidnappers had managed to keep tabs on him, murder them - or befriend them if they ended up being immortal - and retreat to… somewhere. The tunnels weren't the ideal place to stay anymore.

"This way," Vanessa said, sliding a door open to the hidden corridor and Abel clenched his fist. He shouldn't be surprised anymore. They were using ancient technology after all.

Abel silently trailed behind Vanessa with Virgil and Astharoshe to his back. He'd been deemed blind by Methuselah standard and had thus been placed near the source of light, but hadn't been given the tablet since he was also deemed incompetent of using their advanced technology. The thought made Abel scoff, but he had kept silent.

Sighing, Abel rubbed the bridge of his nose. He really wanted to slip his shades back on but knew it would seem odd to the others.

"Do you need to rest?" Virgil asked.

"No," Abel shook his head and was grateful when Virgil didn't try starting up a conversation. He wasn't sure how long they walked in silence, but eventually Abel perked up when the exit was in view.

"Perfect," Vanessa grinned as she squatted near the control panel and hooked her tablet to it.

"Do you need help?" Virgil asked.

"Nope, I got it. I got it."

And true to her word, the exit shook and the metal door slid open.

"Good thing the sun just set," Astharoshe commented. She was the first to squeeze herself through the exit before it even fully opened. "So do you hear her, Uncle?"

Hear who? Abel wanted to ask and raised a brow when Virgil tucked a strand of hair behind his ear and swiveled his head this way and that.

"Her situation would have caused a change in her heartbeat unless she's unconscious," Virgil said once he stopped his swiveling. "There are four people with heartbeats similar to hers. Two of them are sleeping, one is agitated and the other calm. I'm going to guess that the calm one isn't hers, but it's possible that she could have been knocked out, so we should also check the two that are sleeping."

"I'll go after the agitated one!" Astharoshe grinned. "Which way is it?"

"No," Virgil frowned. "You'll be going with… Shades to one of the unconscious ones."

Abel bristled, all thoughts on Virgil's inhuman hearing pushed back. He hated being bossed around and he hated the fact that he was being told to pair up with one of them. "I can go to one of the locations by myself."

"As can I," Astharoshe said, crossing her arms.

"There's three possible locations and four of us, two will have to pair up and since Vanessa and I work efficiently alone, that leaves the two of you. Astharoshe, you're headstrong and rush into everything. You're strong but never think ahead. And you," Virgil turned to Abel, "may be strong in your own right, but you don't have the strength of a Methuselah which Astharoshe has. I have a feeling you have the patience that Astharoshe doesn't have, so I ask that you two work together. You'll balance out your strengths and weaknesses."

Abel had to admit he had a point. Didn't mean he was pleased with it. Up until vampires became a thing, Abel had been the strongest living being on the planet.

"Fine," Abel and Astharoshe huffed together and shot twin glares at each other. "Which way?" they added, which caused Abel's lips to thin in annoyance and Astharoshe to flash her fangs.

This partnership wasn't going to end well.

Abel ignored the smug looks on the twin's faces.

xxxx

Caterina drummed her fingers against the wood of her desk. Like the name suggested, the Dead Zone was a dead end. Caterina had gone there in hopes of establishing an agreement with the vampires but couldn't find a trace of them. Besides the floating meteor in the sky, nothing would suggest that there were any aliens on Earth and after several days of circling the area below the meteor and scanning the land for any signs of a hidden civilization, Caterina had decided to pull out.

Good thing too, since Leon was starting to get on her nerves with all of his perverse attempts of hitting on her, and William was beginning to get fidgety without his daily fix of tinkering with some gadget or other.

Caterina adjusted her monocle and turned back to her latest project; getting in touch with the leader of the vampires. Unlike her brother, she was sure that they weren't all bad, and was of the opinion that being comrades would be better than declaring war.

However, just because she was seeking an alliance with the vampires, didn't mean she wasn't making preparations in case they attacked. Already, Caterina had William and Tres designing ideas of UV lights to be installed into the underground base Leon had shown them.

The bang of her door slamming open jolted Caterina out of her thoughts to eye a frazzled looking professor.

"My Lady," William awkwardly rushed to bow as he nearly tripped over his feet to approach her desk. Caterina had never seen him this animated unless he was talking about lost technology. She warily leaned back as William bombarded her with words and spit.

"Look here," he shoved a picture under her nose. "And look at this!" William hefted a large case onto her desk and opened it to reveal a rifle with white dusted around the hilt and trigger, making fingerprints visible. "The prints match!" He frantically pointed to the picture of the hand panel from the tunnels to the rifle.

Caterina had never questioned the sanity of one of the smartest men in all of Rome and Londinium, but at this moment she found herself wondering if William had finally lost it. It was already known that the rifle had belonged to "Four-Eyes" and that "Four-Eyes" had been the one to show Leon the underground tunnels.

"And look!" William fished a small gadget from his pocket. Caterina recognized it as the solar panel that William had always carried with him. Unlike his usual gadgets that were initialed with W.W.W. this one was signed with A. Nightxxxx. "It's the same fingerprint!" He hastily unscrewed part of the backing which held a data cube that was dusted in the same white that the rifle was.

For as long as Caterina has known William, the man always kept that solar panel well protected and handle the data cube with such care that he never got his own fingerprints on it.

"I'd recognize this fingerprint anywhere!" William slammed his hands on her table, but not before slipping the gadget into his pocket. He was visibly calming down now, but Caterina could still see how ecstatic he was at having learned a little more about his hero.

A. Nightxxx was a mysterious line of lost technology that tended to surface every decade. It was always something new, and it was always something that advanced the technology world by leaps and bounds. In fact, if it wasn't for the limited supplies, Caterina would bet that the world would be as advanced as it was pre-armageddon.

Caterina frowned, it wasn't her usual steely gaze, instead, it was sad. "I'm sorry, Professor, but he's dead." She hated breaking her friend's dream like this, but she wouldn't lie to him. But when William just smiled wider, Caterina paused.

"And that's where you're wrong. Remember that footprint I took a picture of when we first went into the tunnels? It matches the footprints of Leon's friend. It wasn't even a day old, Caterina. It was fresh. He's not dead."

"We found a body, William."

"True, but the corpse was burnt beyond recognition."

"Leon identified it."

"But he also said his friend has silver hair. I checked. That corpse had wisps blonde hair and we're still looking for Clergy Charles Dayton."

"Who has blonde hair," realization struck Caterina. "Was he connected to any of the other Clergymen that were killed?"

William nodded. "He was apart of the same sex ring, and stole money from the church."

Caterina rubbed her temples. "Don't be too pleased. Your role model is still a criminal."

"I prefer vigilante," William said with a hint of smugness.

* * *

A/N: Hey! I updated! It only took me a year XD


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